Civil society calls on Uganda to respect citizens’ rights and media freedom ahead of elections

MEDIA STATEMENT:  Civil society groups are urging Ugandan authorities to respect citizen and media freedoms ahead of the 18 February parliamentary and presidential elections.

In the months leading up to election day, Ugandan authorities have restricted the ability of ordinary citizens, civil society activists and journalists to engage in open debates on sensitive issues such as official corruption, high rates of unemployment, rising costs of living, human rights violations and succession in the presidency, say CIVICUS and the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI).

“It appears that attacks on the media and journalists aim to restrict coverage of events and discussions that appear to challenge the actions and performance of the current government that has been in power for 30 years,” said David Kode, Policy and Research Officer at CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations. “Worryingly, freedom of assembly of members of the political opposition has also been restricted, while civil society organisations have been intimidated.”

'Global Day of Citizen Action’ seeks to engage citizens around the world

An upcoming global event will seek to engage citizens around the world on a set of human rights we don’t often hear much about: “civic space”. The ‘Global Day of Citizen Action’, to be held on Saturday 16 May 2015, will ask citizens whether they feel free to speak out, organise and take action, a group of rights that collectively may be called “civic space”.

“In many parts of the world, freedom of expression, association and assembly, or more simply - the rights to speak out, organise and take action - are under threat,” said Zubair Sayed, Head of Communication at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. “The Global Day of Citizen Action therefore seeks to ask ordinary citizens what they think about their rights in their country and, in so doing, to help create awareness about the idea of `civic space’,” Sayed said.

During the last few years, many countries have passed laws that restrict citizen freedoms or make operations or financing for civil society groups difficult; in some cases they’ve increased the surveillance of ordinary citizens, activists and civil society organisations; and in others there’s been direct repression and arrests. Civil society also faces threats from non-state actors, including powerful corporate entities, extremist right-wing and fundamentalist groups.